Sophia
Sophia is a female member of a group of paladins who work for Richelieu. She is quite serious about her work and stops at nothing to get the job done. She and her companions defeated Drishnek with help from the Fellowship of Maar Sul, helped the fellowship flee from Akai Tora captivity in Vulpengaard Keep and fought in the Battle of Vanna alongside the Grand Alliance. After returning to Alent, Sophia participated in the Raid on the Den of Chaos with the rest of the Cursed Company under Richelieu's orders to end the underground demon threat in the city. Biography Early Years Details about Sophia's past are clouded. Some rumours claim she might've been a dark knight working for the Clergy of Mardük in Vulpengaard Keep. What is known is that Sophia's history with the Magicracy of Alent truly began after Richelieu had returned from raiding Vulpengaard Keep at the end of the Great War and brought several promising knights to his tower where he began training them rigorously for over a decade, dismissing most of his disciples as failures who had been driven mad by his experiments. Godslayer Era Empowered by the Beacon Sophia was one of the few disciples who survived Richelieu's rigorous trials. She helped her fellow knights Aloysius, Ariadne and Seth train their youngest member Maitreya who they believed would become the greatest knight of them all if given time. In late spring of 1017 AE when the Feast of Paedün was taking place, Richelieu took the five knights with him and went to the throne room of Alent's central ziggurat to thwart a dark ritual between Archmage Jemuel and his advisor Drishnek who Richelieu believed had been manipulating Jemuel for far too long. The knights had been trained to face Drishnek's undead powers and finally revealed why their training had been so harsh when they invoked the magical power of the Beacon of Alent and abjured the powers of the god Mardük, turning into paladins in purple, shining armor and proving that mortals can gain divine power without relying just on gods. Richelieu and the purple paladins managed to save Jemuel from Drishnek who escaped to the streets below to target his old enemy from the fellowship, Leon Alcibiates. The paladins gave chase to the runaway lich while Richelieu tended to the disoriented Jemuel. Eventually the paladins tracked Drishek down as the lich was fighting against the Fellowship of Maar Sul who were protecting Leon from him. The fellowship and the paladins worked together, and ultimately Ariadne and the fellowship's leader Khasra III managed to destroy Drishnek's lich body, believing him to have perished for good. Chasing the Fellowship The fellowship used the chaotic aftermath which had attracted a crowd to the scene of the battle to flee from the paladins and the city. The paladins reported the fellowship's escape to Jemuel and Richelieu who ordered them to chase after the fellowship with the newly revealed airship, the Imperator while the rest of the magicracy would prepare for an eventual showdown with a newly risen threat to their interests, the Crimson Coalition led by Glaurung Losstarot. The paladins wasted no time and did their best to track down the elusive fellowship all the way to Yamato. They eventually learned of the fellowship aiding the Akai Tora in taking over Vulpengaard Keep from demons. When the fellowship was imprisoned due to them being framed for an assassination attempt on Shogun Hiroshi Takamoto, the paladins decided to intervene with help from their Alentian ally Greg before the fellowship could be executed. They met with the fellowship within Vulpengaard Keep and offered them the means to escape aboard the airship. Although the fellowship was skeptical about accepting Alentian aid at first because they didn't trust Jemuel or Richelieu, they eventually gave in and led the airship to their destination, the Silverbranch Tree. After exchanging words with the tree, the surviving members of the fellowship were teleported to a distant location where they could find the periapts they needed to end the threat of the Blood Fever. The paladins teleported as well, not wanting to lose sight of the fellowship again, while the airship returned back home to Alent. Teaming Up The fellowship and the paladins found themselves aboard the Hiltraud, a ship which belonged to the Grand Alliance. After initial confusion about this group's sudden appearance among Alliance members was over, the groups introduced themselves to the crew and the leaders of the Alliance's expedition, helping one another get up to speed with what was going on. At this time stowaways from the Grey Cult made themselves known as well, and although the paladins recognized High Prophet Xerathas d'Zarnagon and Captain Varalia Earthhaven among the stowaways, they chose not to address the issue. To them the Grey Cult could be just as potent allies against the Coalition and demon hordes as the Alliance would be. The Alliance learned of the fellowship's quest to end the Blood Fever and the rise of the Crimson Coalition, as well as the existence of the Magicracy of Alent which wanted to form an alliance with the Alliance, both the fellowship and the expedition. The paladins and the fellowship learned of the Alliance's quest to liberate Vanna and all of the Sultanate of Karaganda from the yoke of the Clergy of Artemicia and replace Sultana Adela al-Saif with the Alliance member Khalid al-Saif. To show Alent's goodwill, the paladins promised to help the Alliance in its quest in exchange for the Alliance's higher-ups visiting Alent and discussing terms of a potential alliance with Jemuel and the Council of Mages. The terms were deemed acceptable, and from that moment on the fellowship and the paladins would work alongside the Alliance and the Grey Cult in their quest as they entered the Tronin Desert in Southern Libaterra. While on the way to the Sarquil capital through the desert, they picked up a disoriented man along the way who turned out to be some of the Alliance members' old comrade Jono Renfield. Court Intrigue After reaching Vanna, the groups witnessed the tense confrontation between Adela and Khalid in the throne room of Vanna but were just as surprised as everyone else when Adela, against Khalid's expectations, showed them a boy she claimed was her son. Although the Alliance remained oblivious to the boy's importance, the paladins did notice a noticeable scar above the boy's eyebrow which immediately alerted them to the possibility that the boy might be a Losstarot. The goddess Artemicia revealed herself and trapped both Khalid and Xerathas inside a giant hourglass while giving an ultimatum to the group to bring back the head of the leader of the sirithai, who had been waging a guerrilla war against the sultanate from the deepest parts of the desert, in exchange for Khalid and Xerathas's lives. Left with no choice, the expedition's leader Axikasha Keiran accepted the terms. A hasty meeting was held afterwards where the group discussed their next move while meeting with the Sarquil Azriel al-Zarar who wished to help them in their quest to depose Adela. It was decided that they would go to the desert and find the sirithai but instead enlist their aid against Adela and Artemicia than massacre them as the goddess expected them to do. The paladins accompanied the group to the desert in search of the sirithai, only to witness the sirithai ambushing some of the group members later on and taking the captives, Ariadne, Greg, Varalia and Refan d'Zarnagon, to their lair. Realizing that time was of the essence, the group split in two: one half followed the sirithai and the kidnapped group members to the underground tunnels below while the other half would continue the trek to the sirithai lair above land at the same time. After several dangerous confrontations, the groups reunited in Xibalba, the sirithai lair, where they met not only with the sirithai leader Qadohi but also the god Shakkan who was planning to unleash the sirithai in the desert to wipe out all Sarquil and any other supporters of Artemicia who threatened the sirithai's existence. Ax tried to negotiate a deal with the angry god and Shakkan eventually relented albeit with a twist: he would reconsider the Alliance's words and integrity if they defeated his champion, Plushiebunny, in the lair's massive arena. A deal was struck, and the Alliance went to the arena to free their comrades and then faced Plushiebunny in combat, eventually besting evil in its cutest form albeit with casualties such as Greg. The negotiations continued as the sirithai, impressed by the Alliance's bravery, reconsidered their offer. Before a deal could be made a squad of Black Guards led by Sergeant Obama appeared in the lair, ordering the Alliance to kill the sirithai now as they had pledged to do, or die. To make matters worse, Awar, one of the members of the Alliance, revealed himself as a mole and betrayed his companions by using magical artifacts to trap Shakkan, his true target, into a magical shard. Awar and the one he served wished to use the god's essence for something, but he chose not to reveal what. However, the day was saved when the sirithai decided to side with the Alliance and the Alliance decided to remain loyal to the sirithai instead of the sultanate. Together, the sirithai and the Alliance defeated Obama and his squad, and Azriel managed to intercept and knock out Awar before he could escape to safety. A deal was made: the sirithai would help the Alliance depose Adela and the Clergy of Artemicia in exchange for them helping free Shakkan from the shard. Battles and Betrayals More info later. Jono and Sophia had a one-night stand at night following the Festival of the Dead. Although Jono was eager to continue their relationship, Sophia felt that Jono first had to decide what he really wanted. She left Jono in the morning and hurried back to Ariadne. Aliases and Nicknames ; Sophia : What she is called. Appearance A young woman with brown-ish hair and a determined gaze. Currently wears a purple armor. Personality and Traits Sophia is one of the more relaxed paladins in Ariadne's group. She is willing to enjoy life when an opportunity presents itself although she can stay quiet when needed. Powers and Abilities Sophia is a skilled paladin who knows how to fight and cast minor spells. Relationships Jono Renfield Jono and Sophia had a one night stand in Vanna. Although Jono seemed to be eager to continue their relationship, Sophia felt indifferent about it because she felt Jono wanted something--or rather someone--else. Richelieu Sophia is utterly loyal to Richelieu and would die for him if needed. See also *Cursed Company *Jono Renfield *Richelieu Category:Characters Category:Cursed Company Category:Libaterra Category:Humans Category:Magicracy of Alent Category:Third Age